A Sinclair Community College student was assaulted and robbed on level four of Lot A on the afternoon of Dec. 8, 2014 according to a Sinclair Police report.
The robbery started when a female student was approached by a woman who asked to use her phone, according to a report by local news station ABC22. The report then goes on to state that “four young black men got into her car and started hitting her.” The young men then dragged her from her car and emptied her purse, taking what they wanted.
Sinclair Police Chief Charles Gift said that the suspects in the robbery are all juveniles.
The police report states that the suspects have been charged with robbery, assault, obstructing official business and resisting arrest. There was also a written warning given for trespassing.
Madeline Iseli, Vice President of Advancement at Sinclair, told ABC22 that another student stepped in to help when he saw the attack taking place in the parking garage. Iseli said that a Sinclair police officer witnessed the assault and called for backup.
Several arrests were made shortly thereafter.
Neither the victim nor the young man who intervened were available for comment, but the Clarion did speak with an acquaintance of the person who tried to help who identified himself only as Turner.
“He actually helped her out,” Turner said of the student who stepped in to stop the attack. “As the situation was occurring, he was there.”
The Sinclair police report states that both victims sustained minor injuries.
Turner told the Clarion that this incident doesn’t make him feel any less safe, but he is supplying his girlfriend, who is a new student this year, with pepper-spray.
“It can happen to anyone,” Turner said. “Those boys were looking to hit somebody, it’s just sad that it happened to her.”
For safety, the Sinclair police department recommends that students walk in groups if possible. Additionally, the department advises students to walk with their heads up and to be aware of their surroundings at all times. This means putting cellphones away when walking. Students should report crimes or anything suspicious to campus police right away. In the event of an emergency, students can contact police through one of the 38 blue-light intercoms prominently placed around campus.
Sinclair Community College has a public safety budget of $2.7 million, with 26 sworn police officers and 65 safety information officers. Sinclair police are trained on-the-job for 600 hours before they are allowed to work independently. Even so, new officers that have completed training must still pass a probationary period of 1,480 hours. Sinclair’s downtown campus also boasts 129 security cameras, 108 panic alarms and 1,500 emergency alarm speakers.
“We’ve only had two robberies reported in the last ten years,” Madeline Iseli said in her interview with ABC22. “This is a very unusual, very isolated incident.”